By Fran Brennan, Class XXIII
Alumni Events Committee
The 2009-2010 year got off to a smashing start at our first Alumni event at Eddie’s House. 36 guests and Mayor Lane not only enjoyed the food, but also had the opportunity to hear from chef/owner Eddie Matney, as well as representatives from One Hope Wines.
Betsy Gorham, Board Chair, kicked off the evening with some opening comments. Then Shannon Wallace-Knell introduced Kristen Senseman of One Hope Wines. This amazing story of vision, execution and leadership began in the Fall of October 2005. By the Spring of 2006 One Hope Wines was incorporated and the first 150 cases of wine were distributed shortly thereafter. 8,000 cases were sold in ten states within the first year. But what makes this a truly unique venture is that 50% of the proceeds is donated to charity. Revenue from the Chardonnay is donated to Susan G. Koman for breast cancer, Cabernet Sauvignon to ACT! Today for autism, Merlot to AIDS/Life Cycle, Zinfandel to Snowball Express for the families of our troops, and one tree is planted for every bottle of Sauvignon Blanc that is sold! By June of 2007 One Hope Wines had donated $200,000 to charities. Since I know you will all want to purchase some One Hope Wines, you can find them stocked on the shelves at Albertson’s.
Then our host Eddie Matney recounted some of the experiences throughout his career that have led him to the opening of Eddie’s House on May 20, 2008. The economy took a downturn and things were tough for the first 15 months but Eddie had faith and perseverance. To quote Eddie, “We made it through this freakin’ summer!” Eddie told us that he has just signed on to do a cooking show, “Eddie On-Demand” on Cox cable channel 1, due to begin airing in the middle of December. Congratulations ! But, for Eddie, the highlight of the evening was learning that his 8-year old son threw for one touchdown and ran for another one at his school game.
Our next educational Alumni event is on Monday, October 5th where we will be taking a hard-hat tour of the new and expanded east wing of Scottsdale Fashion Square, followed by happy hour appetizers at the Grand Lux Café. We are very pleased that this event is completely sold out!
The Scottsdale Leader 